alaart's log (Chinese, Korean)

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alaart
Green Belt
Posts: 338
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2019 6:58 am
Location: Kaoshiung
Languages: DE (N), EN
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A2: KR
A1: ES
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... hp?t=10867
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Re: alaart's log (CN/KR in Japan)

Postby alaart » Sun Apr 11, 2021 4:04 pm

So far I reviewed maybe around 200 characters and spent a couple hours on homework.. tomorrow is the semester start and I will have 16 hours of Chinese per week in lessons.

I reduced my Korean language exchanges to one per week, but I will try to keep it alive, and fully reenter once I have settled into the semester.

Maybe I can make the best out of all the character study and finally get into reading. Today I accompanied a friend to a manga café. It took me 3 hours to read one volume of manga (actually I had to rush the last two chapters and didn't fully understand everything there since time was running out) - not exactly fast. My friend from the Philippines read two volumes in the same time. I wonder how fast a Japanese native reads?

The manga I read was called "City", it is the first time I read Manga in Japanese, and probably 10 years since I last read one in English. It is definitely easier than the novel I have lying around. I'm not sure if I enjoyed it and if I have the will to read more. I found it a bit difficult. We will see.
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alaart
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Posts: 338
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2019 6:58 am
Location: Kaoshiung
Languages: DE (N), EN
B1: NL, JP, PT (BR), ZH
A2: KR
A1: ES
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... hp?t=10867
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Re: alaart's log (CN/KR in Japan)

Postby alaart » Sun Apr 11, 2021 4:05 pm

So far I reviewed maybe around 200 characters and spent a couple hours on homework.. tomorrow is the semester start and I will have 16 hours of Chinese per week in lessons.

I reduced my Korean language exchanges to one per week, but I will try to keep it alive, and fully reenter once I have settled into the semester.

Maybe I can make the best out of all the character study and finally get into reading. Today I accompanied a friend to a manga café. It took me 3 hours to read one volume of manga (actually I had to rush the last two chapters and didn't fully understand everything there since time was running out) - not exactly fast. My friend from the Philippines read two volumes in the same time. I wonder how fast a Japanese native reads?

The manga I read was called "City", it is the first time I read Manga in Japanese, and probably 10 years since I last read one in English. It is definitely easier than the novel I have lying around. I'm not sure if I enjoyed it and if I have the will to read more. I found it a bit difficult. But what I liked about the Café and going there with a friend is that I couldn't run away and stop reading and had to continue. :lol:

[Edit]
Wow, Professor google says Japanese people read a Manga in around 15 minutes. I wonder how much time I lost looking up characters and vocabulary.
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Xenops
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Languages: English (N), Danish (A2), Japanese (rusty), Nansha (constructing)
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Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16797
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Re: alaart's log (CN/KR in Japan)

Postby Xenops » Sun Apr 11, 2021 9:33 pm

alaart wrote:The manga I read was called "City", it is the first time I read Manga in Japanese, and probably 10 years since I last read one in English. It is definitely easier than the novel I have lying around. I'm not sure if I enjoyed it and if I have the will to read more. I found it a bit difficult. But what I liked about the Café and going there with a friend is that I couldn't run away and stop reading and had to continue. :lol:

[Edit]
Wow, Professor google says Japanese people read a Manga in around 15 minutes. I wonder how much time I lost looking up characters and vocabulary.


A tankoban? That's fast. :shock: I'm not that fast when I read in English! When I timed myself, I can read a Fullmetal Alchemist tankoban in 45 minutes, and Death Note in an hour. Naruto and action-heavy manga probably much faster.
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alaart
Green Belt
Posts: 338
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2019 6:58 am
Location: Kaoshiung
Languages: DE (N), EN
B1: NL, JP, PT (BR), ZH
A2: KR
A1: ES
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... hp?t=10867
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Re: alaart's log (CN/KR in Japan)

Postby alaart » Sat May 08, 2021 2:30 am

Xenops wrote:
alaart wrote:The manga I read was called "City", it is the first time I read Manga in Japanese, and probably 10 years since I last read one in English. It is definitely easier than the novel I have lying around. I'm not sure if I enjoyed it and if I have the will to read more. I found it a bit difficult. But what I liked about the Café and going there with a friend is that I couldn't run away and stop reading and had to continue. :lol:

[Edit]
Wow, Professor google says Japanese people read a Manga in around 15 minutes. I wonder how much time I lost looking up characters and vocabulary.


A tankoban? That's fast. :shock: I'm not that fast when I read in English! When I timed myself, I can read a Fullmetal Alchemist tankoban in 45 minutes, and Death Note in an hour. Naruto and action-heavy manga probably much faster.


I looked again, 15 minutes is definitely speed reading. Most people probably take between 30 minutes and 1 hour. I also asked around Japanese people I know, one friend of mine reads a Manga in just 20 minutes, but she reads a lot. Another one I asked takes over 1 hour.

Anyway, I bought new Manga - it is actually cheaper that way then going to the Manga Café. I just went through the store and picked one that didn't have Furigana attached, so I can get Kanji reading practice. I read a bit, it is pretty difficult. :?

Manga.JPG


I had my Chinese exam, still haven't received the result, but I didn't do that well. If I passed I probably barely made it. I managed to be able to write maybe between 600-800 characters when practicing, but that is still too slow for the exam that had probably over thousand, and absolutely no time to think about how to write something, so we are expected to write quickly.
Since I don't think I can keep up with the courses writing and reading pace (probably more than 50 new characters / week), I plan to not follow it and self study instead.
Ah, I got a new Chinese practice partner from Tandem.net, a bit difficult, my Chinese is rusty. But I will stick to speaking it now again regularly.

Not much Korean, but I plan to focus on Korean now for a while, so we will see what happens.
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alaart
Green Belt
Posts: 338
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2019 6:58 am
Location: Kaoshiung
Languages: DE (N), EN
B1: NL, JP, PT (BR), ZH
A2: KR
A1: ES
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... hp?t=10867
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Re: alaart's log (CN/KR in Japan)

Postby alaart » Sun May 16, 2021 9:10 am

During golden week (last week) I was lucky that I decided to go out a bit, because now we have a lot of corona cases and half of Japan is under emergency state again. Here are pictures from Inuyama Castle, the oldest in Japan that is still standing. And the second one is from a hiking trip around Shinshiro.

I am focusing on Korean now and I am searching for new language exchange partners and trying to study some grammar. I also want to take the basis level of TOPIK.

I spoke some Chinese. While I still remember a fair amount of vocabulary, my tones are all wrong and over the place, but I can hear that I am wrong and work towards correcting myself, even if I don't remember the correct tone. My language exchange partner is from Sichuan and tried teaching me the tones in Sichuan dialect. They are actually quite interesting.

I also talked with a Japanese friend who is learning Chinese, and inspired by this I did this Pitch Accent quiz in Japanese. I got 11/15, so I guess I should start paying more attention to all the tone stuff.

犬山城.JPG

新城.jpg
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alaart
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Posts: 338
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2019 6:58 am
Location: Kaoshiung
Languages: DE (N), EN
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A1: ES
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... hp?t=10867
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Re: alaart's log (CN/KR in Japan)

Postby alaart » Mon May 31, 2021 11:23 am

I missed the registration for the TOPIK, the webpage is a bit stupid for beginners. Too much Korean, too little English. Well, anyway - I am continuing with my studies and will just pretend I would take the test at the end of the next month.

I'm going through seemile Korean in Japanese. The grammar is much more logical in Japanese, and I should have used Japanese ressources from the start. Was just not in my comfort zone, I think I would be much further if I had. I'm currently in Chapter 13 from 21.

Once I finished this I will take sample exams.

I also did various language exchanges in Chinese and Korean. Korean is going well I'd say, Chinese not so much - a lot of bad tones.

------

Continued local sightseeing:

Nagoya Castle #2.jpg

Nagoya Castle #1.jpg
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Dagane
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Re: alaart's log (CN/KR in Japan)

Postby Dagane » Mon May 31, 2021 11:31 am

I find it remarkable that you study 3 such difficult Asian languages at the same time while managing to make a living abroad. I'm mildly interested in Japanese and Chinese, but I think I'll never really muster enough motivation to learn any of them.

Nagoya Castle looks pretty. I completely missed the city when I was in Japan. I only changed trains there and every time I passed by I felt knackered. Now I think I should have dedicated some time to it.
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alaart
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Posts: 338
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2019 6:58 am
Location: Kaoshiung
Languages: DE (N), EN
B1: NL, JP, PT (BR), ZH
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A1: ES
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... hp?t=10867
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Re: alaart's log (CN/KR in Japan)

Postby alaart » Mon May 31, 2021 12:57 pm

Dagane wrote:I find it remarkable that you study 3 such difficult Asian languages at the same time while managing to make a living abroad. I'm mildly interested in Japanese and Chinese, but I think I'll never really muster enough motivation to learn any of them.

Nagoya Castle looks pretty. I completely missed the city when I was in Japan. I only changed trains there and every time I passed by I felt knackered. Now I think I should have dedicated some time to it.


Not really making a living, I'm on a student loan. I hope I can get a scholarship again next semester. Let's hope, I should get the reply soon.

Nagoya, I don't think there is that much recommended sights - even Japanese people don't really recommend it. But I am here, and we have a pandemic, so I just stay local. The main part of the castle is still under renovation, and I couldn't enter. So the picture from the inside I took was from the historic building next to it (which is reconstructed already).

As for motivation, you never know unless you try.
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alaart
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Posts: 338
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2019 6:58 am
Location: Kaoshiung
Languages: DE (N), EN
B1: NL, JP, PT (BR), ZH
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A1: ES
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... hp?t=10867
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Re: alaart's log (CN/KR in Japan)

Postby alaart » Sat Jun 05, 2021 4:25 pm

In my Chinese language exchanges I was told my pronunciation of "c" and "z" is bad, and hence I am trying to fix that. I also still have to work on my tones, keep postponing that.

For Korean Grammar. I'm working on seemile still, now in video lesson 18/21. Seems I'm learning from the oldest videos with bad audio at the end, but I'll stick to it since I am almost through. I must say that the load of grammar is starting to get difficult to remember. So I think I will switch to more input soon, but I wonder how I could keep my grasp of grammar.

Korean language exchanges seemed a bit difficult, I talked with some guys who wanted to talk about politics. In chat I couldn't keep up chatting in Korean a lot and wrote a lot of English / German.

I'm also playing a lot of guitar. On the days I am making music I sort of don't study much, and vice versa.

Oh yeah, I forgot I registered for the JLPT (only level 3). So I will have a look at that soon, never took one before. Kind of interferes with Korean, but oh well.
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alaart
Green Belt
Posts: 338
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2019 6:58 am
Location: Kaoshiung
Languages: DE (N), EN
B1: NL, JP, PT (BR), ZH
A2: KR
A1: ES
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... hp?t=10867
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Re: alaart's log (CN/KR in Japan)

Postby alaart » Mon Jul 05, 2021 5:42 pm

I didn't study much, the least I can remember since a long long time. I mostly spent my time with music which is kind of completely replacing language learning at the moment. I am working on recording my guitar compositions, but my playing is still lacking.

I did some Korean language exchanges, but not much.

I read a Japanese children book watched some movies and took the JLPT N3. It was not difficult, although there were still a couple words I didn't know here and there, and also the test is damn long - hard to concentrate throughout the whole thing. I think I should be able to take the N2 too, so I will register for the December test. I will also register for TOPIK I.

Ah, China has announced that borders will stay closed for another year, I haven't heard anything yet, but I guess my exchange year in Shanghai is probably toast, so I am preparing my return to Germany.
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